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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>GNSO Council Members,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On behalf of the GNSO Council Standing Committee on ICANN’s Budget and Ops Plan (informal until Council adoption of charter), I attach here a draft of comments regarding the IANA-PTI Draft Budget for FY19 for your consideration and eventual submission to the public comment forum, absent any objections from Council members. The comment submission deadline is <b><span style='color:red'>26 November 2017</span></b> and as such Council’s deliberation on this draft can only occur via the Council’s mailing list, as it closes prior to the next Council meeting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The standing committee met earlier this week to discuss this topic and was also joined by Xavier Calvez, ICANN’s CFO. As agreed during that call, staff assisted the committee with developing a first draft that generally supports the proposed FY19 IANA-PTI budget. As discussed on the last Council call, this submission of support has more to do with the GNSO being a Decisional Participant within the Empowered Community than the specifics of the IANA-PTI budget itself, which is more aligned with Registry Operators interests. That said, the standing committee invites any input from Council on this draft. Please send any suggestions or proposed edits back to the list, and staff can incorporate any changes into the master draft. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On behalf of the Council Leadership and again absent any objections, staff will submit the final version of comments to the forum by 23:59 UTC, 26 November 2017.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On a slightly different note, the Council should expect to see a draft of comments regarding ICANN’s Reserve Fund Target Level in the coming days. This topic was also discussed by the standing committee earlier this week. Unlike the comments on the IANA-PTI that are non-controversial, the draft for the Reserve Fund Target is likely to contain two options for the Council to discuss. The comment period concludes on the 30 November 2017. Thus, there will be an agenda item for the Council meeting on the 30<sup>th</sup> to discuss the status of the standing committee, as well as, to devote a little time to deliberate the two options should they remain when the draft is sent to the Council. Afterwards and without objection, the final version of the comment will be submitted to the forum.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In the meantime, please let staff or Council leadership know if you have any questions about process or the draft(s) of comments. Thank you for your attention to this matter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>B<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Berry A. Cobb<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>720.839.5735<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:mail@berrycobb.com">mail@berrycobb.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>@berrycobb<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>